From Star Wars to Titanic, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, some of our most beloved movies were filmed in landscapes and historic sites protected by the Antiquities Act.

As voting method nerds who appreciate the values of ranked choice voting (RCV) elections, we at FairVote got a kick out of the Los Angeles Times running a front-page story today on the RCV system. Unfortunately, the news story itself is a big disappointment.

If everyone in the world is an award-winning something-or-other, then what's the point of awards to begin with? Why bother pretending any subjective work of art is 'the year's best,' when it should be good enough for the work to be recognized as interesting and worthy of some attention.

It's Hollywood's biggest weekend. The 87th Academy Awards takes place on Sunday, February 22, 2015. The event attracts more stars to Los Angeles than any other award show. Actors, musicians celebrities of all kinds (even reality personalities) have converged on LA to edge their way into popular annual Oscar® events.

I went down to Texas to meet Chris in 2010. I spent the weekend hunting with him and his son, getting to know his family a little bit, meeting his wife, and watching him with his kids. I was watching this marriage, which on many ways was on a heal, reeling from this war that they had endured together, as well as the book, put together by Jim DeFelice, which had been dictated after that.

Today, the Oscar race has splinted with many of the top categories still open-ended. If you want to know the winners, search your soul and wait until Sunday. If you want to know my informed predictions? Proceed...

Great storytelling -- whether it's a new play, a television spot or a speech -- is all about creating an emotional connection with the audience. Storytelling is elevated by great writers and great storytellers.

Founder of Situation Interactive, a digital marketing agency for experiential brands in NY and LA. Founder of The Situation Project, a nonprofit organization committed to high performing public schools in underserved communities.

Last year, I was a first-time nominee for my short documentary, Facing Fear. When the big moment came and I didn't get called to the stage, my sons were almost in tears. When we arrived back home, the boys gave me a huge comforting embrace that put a final coda on the whole experience for me... or at least so I thought.

The Academy recognizes many different areas and not just the actors. From "Best Sound" to "Best Costumes" these technical awards are given to the hardworking members of the film industry. However, there is still a group of hardworking men and women left out of the big show despite their contributions to the film world.